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Talk:Trader/@comment-2602:306:CCD1:C0E0:D89E:8E09:94F2:A8F8-20171208085331
spoilers/speculation ahead* One can infer the Trader is from Mushroom Glade, judging by his appearance and that he has a bunker key to get there. That just makes him even more mysterious- considering there’s so little information on the glade. What makes him intriguing though, are his similarities to the main character. They’re both mute, slightly malformed at the face, survivalists, very pale, possibly Outsiders, have resilience to the native diseases, also show pretty strong resistance to the Being and seem to have an odd fondness for mushrooms. One might also argue that neither of them require food since, from what it seems in the animated image, the Trader hasn’t taken his apparel off for a long time. Aside from the items in his possession, the physical similarities are possibly a recent phenomenon for the protagonist. The player can see in their journal that they’ve had these effects the next day, after being rescued by him. Perhaps he could’ve given you something to keep you alive, but it’s what’s caused you to mutate? That might be another reason why he’s so friendly; he views you as similar to him. Another reason for his kindness might be that you worked together. He has a key to the military bunker and a journal that would both be identical to yours, if not for the mushrooms- which shows age and a bit of personalization to him; not to mention the way he treats you and calls you brother. You say yourself that you feel like you remember him. He was close enough to save you from the doctor’s house, and could’ve been part of your team, assuming that’s true. He seems to know the situation too. He tells you to stick together, and not to go deeper into the woods (which is what he says the “road home” is). He knows a lot more than what he communicates to you. He’s trying to keep you from harm. I don’t think the doctor is responsible for the alterations to the player. Why would he give you a drug that would have those effects? Simple experimentation? No, not to the target of interrogation. Whatever affected the main character may be responsible for his amnesia, which is inconvenient for the person you want to interrogate. It seems temporary, however. You recall things from your personal life at the end of the game, and a dream sequence. Could’ve been a bad blow to the head? Not that anyone claimed he’s a good doctor. He killed loads of people for no discernible reason- rather, let people die in bulk in a cold, dark, poorly lit cellar beneath a church. Treatment was ineffective. Case and point, the Trader can act as a good explanation of why the protagonist has the acquired differences that he does. Another curiosity is the Trader’s death. He appears the morning after the appearance of the Three, and that’s not a coincidence (nothing is in Darkwood, it seems). My best guess is that he was killed by the Three and they wrote “liar” on his helmet out of some strange personal grudge. Nobody seems to like the military, and that could be a motive. The Trader might’ve had dealings with the nearby village, and took a side in the food crisis opposing whatever the Three wanted (the Three have a connection to the village because of their treatment towards setting the Talking Tree ablaze). Perhaps the Three saw one of the written messages from the Trader and were upset. I’m mainly talking about “All roads lead deeper into the forest”. Many people are drawn in by the Being. They might’ve thought that was your motive, meaning you’d be going through the Talking Tree. Considering the Three’s grandmother is the Mushroom Granny in Mushroom Glade (not entirely sure on that; need to look into it further), perhaps there was some kind of history between them- under the assumption that the Trader is from there. To conclude, not much is said to us about the Trader. There are explanations for his motives, however. He was an excellent addition to the game, despite having exactly the same function as the Three, he had a lot more personality. I hope others can give additional input on the matter, since the Trader is probably my favorite character in this crazy ride of a game. Thank you for reading, and I apologize for such a long post.